Free the 300+ Children: Urge the Russian Government to Allow Over 300 Orphaned Children to Be Adopted By Their U.S. Families

We met Maxim on a trip to Russia in 2007 and fell in love with him. He’s got such a big heart, we knew almost immediately that he was supposed to be our son. We almost managed to sort all the papers out needed for his adoption.

But in December 2012 – President Putin passed a law banning us, American parents, to adopt children from Russia. We were shocked by this sudden decision. We miss Maxim terribly every day. Our son is now stuck on the other side of the world because of this new law.

But not only him. Over 300 children, many with severe health problems, are currently stuck in orphanages in Russia. These children have adoptive families whom they have met and started to fall in love with, waiting for them in America.

These children have already been abandoned by their parents once – we can’t break their fragile hearts a second time. No child should have to think they’ve been abandoned twice. We want to fight to be Maxim’s parents, just as many other US parents want to give a home to over 300 Russian kids.

We are calling on the Ministry of Education to make an exception and permit these 300 children, including Maxim, whose adoption procedures were not finalized, to reunite with their US parents.

The documentary Dark Matter of Love, which tells the story of some of the last three Russian children able to be adopted into the US, shows what Maxim is going through right now. It demonstrates what a difference the love of a family can make to children’s lives – regardless of where they’re from.

We’ve joined forces with the filmmakers in this campaign. With a series of screenings in Russia and the US we’re hoping to raise the profile of the situation these children are facing, and put pressure on both the American and Russian governments to find a way to get these children into loving families.

But we really need your help.

Please sign our petition, encourage your friends on Facebook and Twitter to do the same. Let’s show our governments that the Russian and American people want the same thing – for these 300 children to find love, and to find a home. If anyone deserves it they do.

Letter to

Russian Ministry of Education

We met Maxim on a trip to Russia in 2007 and fell in love with him. He’s got such a big heart, we knew almost immediately that he was supposed to be our son. We almost managed to sort all the papers out needed for his adoption.

But in December 2012 – President Putin passed a law banning us, American parents, to adopt children from Russia. We were shocked by this sudden decision. We miss Maxim terribly every day. Our son is now stuck on the other side of the world because of this new law.

But not only him. Over 300 children, many with severe health problems, are currently stuck in orphanages in Russia. These children have adoptive families whom they have met and started to fall in love with, waiting for them in America.

These children have already been abandoned by their parents once – we can’t break their fragile hearts a second time. No child should have to think they’ve been abandoned twice. We want to fight to be Maxim’s parents, just as many other US parents want to give a home to over 300 Russian kids.

We are calling on the Ministry of Education to make an exception and permit these 300 children, including Maxim, whose adoption procedures were not finalized, to reunite with their US parents.